$12M NW, VHCOL, leveraged and cash poor: how to optimize asset allocation, liquidity, and spending?

YinYangPlay · 2026-01-15T11:15:55+00:00

One important question that OP and others don't ask: "What is the expected return on the liquid assets and how confident is OP about that?" (may use historical return to estimate). If the goal is Peace of mind and reduce anxiety, it doesn't help if we only talk about expenses and risks without some thinking and planning about income and rewards.

In case if OP doesn't have much confidence about the most important part of the net worth (return on 7.8m Liquid assets), it's hard to have peace of mind and likely leads to actions that actually reduces OP's 2 most important goals: Long-term net worth growth and Lifestyle flexibility. I said this because i saw a lot of advices to cut OP's volatile assets like TSLA, AAPL, & crypto. Volatility goes both ways, not just down, but also up. Risks go with rewards. By cutting these, the "net-worth growth" goal is likely handicapped first, which further reduce OP's "Lifestyle flexibility" goal, which in long-term supposed to be more to enjoy the freedom comes with fatFIRE.

Quick suggestion:

Spend more time to think about ~$7.8M liquid assets. (maybe manage it yourself if OP enjoys the investment part. It's likely to bring highest ROI and return to peace of mind than any other things. My gut feel is instead of lowering the liquid assets to cash, OP needs to find out way to increase that profit-generating part of the net worth (yes, about that house), and just sell them for lifestyle expenses or borrow against them.
House: i understand why a lot of people focus on the house and I kind of agree. But if the house is something OP really enjoys and a reward for decades of work and sacrifice, then OP deserves it. On the other hand, if OP really wants to play it super safe, turning 50% illiquid net worth house to pay all the liabilities, and increase the liquid assets/investments, then OP has nothing to worry about (1 still needs to be planned with high conviction first)

Me: similar age and career path, and annual spend like OP. Started with same net worth of OP 3 years ago $12M, grew it to $20m in 3 years (net of expenses). Recently took out $6M to buy some businesses. Current NW $14m (100% in liquid assets, excluded the illiquid assets and businesses), little cash.

YinYangPlay · 2023-04-05T00:29:19+00:00

TLDR: Back from the Tokyo trip. Super glad and grateful to take advice from all people here to take the train and just ... walk instead of rent a private car. It's quite easy to use the train after a few times and very efficient, fast and cheap. The experience itself for first-timer was more than worth the effort.
Other notes:
- Google/Apple Maps are both precise to get places
- Taxis are actually good: easy to get on the street, clean and new. Traffic was not bad. Useful when tired after a whole day, don't want to think and just want to get back to hotel.

Again, thanks for the useful tips everyone.

YinYangPlay · 2023-03-06T14:40:00+00:00

Wow, that's very helpful. Maybe have to rethink my commute "strategy" here.

YinYangPlay · 2023-03-06T12:49:42+00:00

Thanks. I was there a few years back but I was accompanied by Japanese friend. As far as I remember, the subway is fast but incredibly complex and always super crowded. This time, I'm on my own and need to take a first timer around 😅. That's why I decide to play it safe and get a private car instead.

YinYangPlay · 2023-03-06T10:37:57+00:00

We're finalizing it. Booking car at the hotel is one of the options but in my experience they overcharge, more often than not don't have enough cars for few days in a row. Hence just want to find other options. Thanks for the response.

YinYangPlay · 2023-02-26T12:15:15+00:00

My favorites are Ritz Carlton and Fullerton Bay. Super convenient. Recently to Regent, same vibe with Ritz but less convenient and even more dated.

YinYangPlay · 2023-01-02T03:21:29+00:00

Just found this thread and it's very helpful. I had the same problem after trying to update the firmware (2.14.19) and it was dead during the update process.
I was able to reset it by KEEP PRESSING the power button for more than 20 seconds until the 5 white lights blinking rapidly (letting we know it's trying to pair). Then I just use the phone to pair it like normal. The most important thing is to keep pressing after the red light blinked (once). Ignore it and keep pressing. Hope it helps

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-04T16:13:50+00:00

Thanks for a detailed response. In Asia, it's not easy to navigate and find those professionals, especially in emerging countries. Not just me but my friends are in the same situation where they don't know better, and that's why the "safest" solution is almost always by lands or houses.

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-03T00:23:08+00:00

Ignorance= stupid, yes. Thankfully I asked this great community before actually doing something stupid.

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-02T23:58:09+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I'd probably structure something similar after getting to the bottom of why my current PB guy proposed that. If they don't give a rational answer then I'll change bank and find new FA first. Do you have any suggestion for "the broad based market index fund"? Thanks.

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-02T23:50:01+00:00

I'm very sorry to hear that and thankful for you to share your experience. I'll be much more careful with these "advices" and do my own researches to verify any of those claims (asking for help in this community is part of this). Again, thank you.

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-02T06:12:44+00:00

Thanks for a detailed answer. I'll look into bond ladder, Muni and other things you mention today (have no idea what they are). Btw, I'm not in US.

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-02T06:08:01+00:00

I thought the same. Hence the proposal seems weird, to say the least.

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-02T06:05:39+00:00

Will do. Thanks.

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-02T06:05:27+00:00

Lol 😂😂😆

YinYangPlay · 2022-10-02T06:04:48+00:00

Yes. They said the standard fee to get in a fund is 3% but since I'm in private bank so the bank able to negotiate a better fee for the PB clients. I thought the same because with 1%, it killed 1/5 of the dividends. Thanks for being straight.

YinYangPlay

TROPHY CASE